aloha!
this morning i called the number printed on stueve's kefir
carton. i reached a recording that offered a 1-800 number for orders and
a local one for mr. boyd clark. i called the latter: (909)399-3560.
boyd answered and i had an enjoyable chat with him.
unprepared, as usual, i ended up scribbling down notes of our
conversation in the margins of a free rag i picked up in costa mesa
called _awareness_magazine_. here comes what i can piece together from
those scratchings...
the address in claremont has only admistrative offices, no cows.
the cows live in chino, due south of here and east of euclid. the three
herds range from 1200 to 2000 animals each. each pen houses 90 to 100
holstein cows, which go out to pasture for 45 to 60 days before giving
birth to calves (calfs?). they receive fresh food everyday.
many athleteds use kefir for the beneficial bacteria and balanced
ratio of fat/protein/carbohydrate. i'll list the nutrition facts at the
end. to sell raw milk and stay within the law, they must meet stringent
standards of the local milk commision, part of the california milk
commision. they also receive certification from the usda. however, they
cannot sell their products outside of california (no interstate commerce).
why not organic? boyd tells me he can't always find organic
feed, though he does buy it at times. some of the feed they grow
themselves, with no pesticides, and they test every batch of feed
purchased for pesticide residues. if they find any, they return it. if
he only managed a herd of 80 to 100 heads, he could feasibly grow all the
feed himself.
all stueve's products reach the shelf raw & uncooked. he spoke of
some east coast outfits that grow organically, but pasteurize before
*and* after shipping. for him, he remains more commited to providing raw
fats, raw proteins, & raw carbohydrates in his product than to organic
pastuerized ones. every two weeks they brew up a batch of kefir.
stueve's never has and never will use bgh/bst (bovine growth
hormone/bovine somato-tropin). in fact, they spearheaded the opposition
to such practices when monsanto aggresively pressured farmers to feed,
inject, or implant their product into dairy herds. a normal daily yield
of milk falls around 5.5 gallons, with 8 to 10 gallons tops. monsanto's
pharmaceutical preparation would increase milk output by 10 to 25 to 35%
per day. among the many downsides include mastitis (inflamed udders),
pus in the milk, and higher death rate of the cattle. i applauded
stueve's stand against such an unnatural practice, glad to hear they used
good nutrition, environment, & breeding to increase milk flow.
stueve (from the german) founded "alta dena" in 1945. in 1985
they differentiated their raw milk products with the title "stueve's
natural." in 1989, they sold alta dena. boyd once worked as the
general manager of alta dena, which still distributes their dairy south
of santa barbara. up north, where i will try to get stueve's into my
local health food stores, nature's best (& whole foods) carries
distribution.
products: raw whole milk, raw nonfat milk, raw cream, raw kefir,
raw butter unsalted, raw butter low salt, & raw cottage cheese. i deeply
want to try the last item. in addition to the plain kefir i've
rhapsodized about, two flavored kefirs also populate some coolers.
neither would i or any other 100% rawtarian consume. corn syrup & other
nasties, i believe. they do not sell raw yogurt due to the supposition
that the public would not accept the wide variances in appearance &
texture with each batch. different bacteria breed different yogurts, and
today's consumer just can't handle such a wild card in their life. ;-)
anyone could buy their raw milk and make yogurt at home, of course.
occasionally a sick animal will receive antibiotics as a last
resort, "just to keep the animal alive." first they'll isolate the
animal, feed it naturally, and pray for the best. two weeks or so after
discontinuing antibiotics, the hostein's milk will go to a lab for
residue analysis. if they find anything, it won't go to market. only
clean milk makes it into stores. all milk undergoes daily residue tests.
thousands of acres of land would provide enough full time
pasture, but stueve's doesn't have those resources at the moment. as the
holsteins tend to clump together, they kill 30 blades of grass for each 1
they eat. they raise heifers in oakdale until the age of 25 months to 3
years, at which point they undergo a series of tests, the qualified
animals proceeding to one of the three herds in chino (by truck). in
total, they raise less than 10 animals per acre.
finally, on the issue of "rendering" (feeding dead ground up cows
to living cows): illegal for dairy herds. he hears the practice happens
on the east coast much more than in the west. he knows of no dairy
farmers who add powdered cement to feed. this makes sense, as heavier
cattle would work as an advantage to the beef farmer, not necessrily the
dairy man (or dairy queen!).
i think i got it all. he had to go to a meeting, so i didn't
take up to much of his time. when i told him of my intention to report
my discoveries to a raw foods group on the internet, boyd gave me his
blessing and hoped it would spread the prevalence of wholesome, raw dairy
in our cooked world. (uh, not his words exactly... but he did come
across as very open & friendly). oh yeah, the nutrition facts from the
kefir carton:
nutrition facts
serving size: 1 cup (236 ml)
servings per container: 4
---------------------------------------
amount per serving:
calories: 170 calories from fat: 90
---------------------------------------
% daily values
total fat: 10g 15%
saturated fat: 6g 30%
cholesteraol: 40mg 13%
sodium: 125mg 5%
total carbohydrate: 12g 4%
dietary fiber: 0g 0%
sugars: 11g
protein: 9g
---------------------------------------
vitamin a: 8% vitamin c: 4%
calcium: 30% iron: 8%
---------------------------------------
percent daily values are based on a
2,000 calorie diet. your daily values
may be higher or lower depending on
your calorie needs
calories: 2,000 2,500
---------------------------------------
total fat < 65g 80g
sat. fat < 20g 25g
cholesterol < 300mg 300mg
sodium < 2400mg 2400mg
total carbohydrate 300g 375g
dietary fiber 25g 30g
---------------------------------------
cultured raw certified nonfat milk, raw certified cream, gelatin
contains live, active cultures: lactobacillus caucasicus,
lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus bulgaricus, and
streptococcus thermophilus.
keep refrigerated
stueve's natural
250 w. 1st street #250
claremont, ca 91711
(909) 392-1901
shake & serve
in service,
bodhi
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